sycophant

PRONUNCIATION:

(SIK-uh-fuhnt, SY-kuh-, -fant)

MEANING:

noun:
A servile self-seeking person who flatters in an attempt to win favor.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin sycophanta (informer, slanderer), from Greek sykophantes
(informer, slanderer), from sykon (fig) + phainein (to show). How did
a sycophant turned from one who shows a fig, to an informer, to a flatterer?
There are two explanations though both are unconfirmed. The first theory
is that the word referred to someone who informed against the theft or
illegal export of figs in ancient Athens; other is that it referred to
one who makes a fig sign.
When the word arrived in the English language its meaning changed from
an informer to a flatterer.

USAGE:

"There are few models around the world of coup plotters who have
succeeded as civilian administrators. This is in part because dictators
invariably begin to believe the sycophants who gather around them."
The Savior Fantasy; The Washington Post; Oct 20, 1999.